Watercraft are held in several Minnesota museums, historical societies, and collections - boats that were constructed in the state. Often the general public, scholars, and students are unaware of the significance of small and seemingly mundane historic vessels preserved in these collections. Drawing upon nautical archaeological and maritime historical knowledge based on fieldwork and research, MHM chose 4 small wooden watercraft specifically constructed to act as recreational vessels to investigate during the MHR Project. These vessels met particular criteria: they were Minnesota-designed and built, they had a particular design, they are rare, and their significance to the maritime history of the state has not been recognized - or in one case- not widely recognized. MHM's documented 3D scanned, measured, sketched, and photographed 4 vessels: Ed Ahlcrona's 2 Crona Craft Runabouts from Tonka Bay Boat Works in Tonka Bay on Lake Minnetonka, Paul Larson's All-American Runabout from Larson Boat Works in Little Falls on the Mississippi River, and Hugo and Janet Gross's Sportsman G16 Runabout from Hugo's Boat Works in Onamia on Mille Lacs Lake. The 3D scanning process is a tool MHM has utilized since late 2016 to document 10 smaller watercraft: the Big Swan Dugout Canoe, a Ramaley’s Fisherman’s Friend, Mille Lacs Indian Trading Post motorboat, a Joseph Dingle Boat Works outboard motorboat, a Cokato Boat Works outboard fishing boat, a chrome fiberglass Herter’s Model St. Lawrence outboard motorboat, Tukantoiciya’s Dakota Birch Bark Canoe, an Ojibwe Birch Bark Canoe, a Parker's Prairie Boat Works Duck Boat, Arthur Dyer’s fast racing sailboat Onawa, Charles Ichabod Clark's narrow flat-bottomed planked boat named The Constitution Old Ironsides, a Fisherman's Friend model probably constructed by Moore Boat Works or Ramaley Boat Works, a small outboard motorboat probably designed and produced by E. Weston Farmer at the Wayzata Boat Building Company, and Ray Thompson's row/outboard fishing boat Thompson #22 from Waseca. Beyond the actual scanning and documentation of the 4 watercraft during the MHR Project, another of MHM’s goal was to determine the usefulness of the inexpensive scanning technology chosen for the work, along with the quality of its output.

In Copyright. This work is copyrighted to Ann Merriman, Christopher Olson, and Maritime Heritage Minnesota. It cannot be duplicated, altered, or hosted online by an unauthorized third party. It cannot be sold for a profit or used to make a profit by any unauthorized third party and no commercial use is allowed. It can be used as a scholarly resource with proper citation to Ann Merriman, Christopher Olson, and Maritime Heritage Minnesota.

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews